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Saturday Night Live

BIG PICTURE: A strong SNL benefitted from a host who was game to play against type, and the rarity of special guests who were truly special, both for the times we’re living in and the show’s own history. After a rough week, Senator Elizabeth Warren appeared in good sprits as she popped up opposite doppleganger Kate McKinnon in the cold open, announcer Darrell Hammond made a return to the screen, and Rachel Dratch appeared as Debbie Downer, one of the funniest characters from her time in the show’s cast.

The cold open was a winner even before Warren took the stage. Fox News used to be a more frequent setting for the cold opens, but was less so during this year’s debate season. McKinnon played network host Laura Ingraham, tossing red meat to her base by announcing that Bernie Sanders picked Fidel Castro as his VP, and calling the coronavirus virus a hoax by offering a list of bigger things to worry about, including “women who keep their maiden names,” “Mexican teenagers dancing,” and “black marching bands.” Throughout, she highlighted her diminishing sponsors, including Deer Tanks – “Send Bambi to Hell, with Deer Tanks” – and Word Searches with Racial Slurs, with the tagline, “You didn’t say it. You just circled it.”

Cecily Strong appeared as Jeanine Pirro, brushing off coronavirus fears by noting that “alcohol is a disinfectant, so momma’s gonna live forever.” We also saw the return of Eric and Donald Trump Jr. (Alex Moffat and Mikey Day), with their usual revealing antics, like when Don said, “It’s like our dad always says…,” and Eric replies, “The N Word?”

The sketch also saw Hammond return as just-retired Chris Matthews, now joining Fox, and then a clearly elated McKinnon did double duty so her Warren could mingle with the real thing. The actual Warren said she was doing fine in the face of leaving the presidential race, and when asked who she might endorse, said, “Maybe I’ll pull a New York Times and endorse them both.” After McKinnon thanks her a bit too effusively for all she’s done, Warren replied, “I’m not dead. I’m just in the Senate.”

MONOLOGUE/HOST: Daniel Craig – originally booked when his final James Bond film, since rescheduled to November due to coronavirus fears, was supposed to be released this month – was eager to shed his Bond image and just get goofy. For the monologue, after talking about living in New York, he showed his favorite clip from his new film, which turned out to be a funny satire featuring Bond in a casino, acting more like a naive tourist way too excited about winning at craps than the sophisticate he normally plays. Here, he shakes off his traditional martini for a vodka and Red Bull. He was just as playful throughout the episode.

NOTABLE SKETCHES/PERFORMANCES: “Sands of Modesto” showed how a soap opera might operate within our current coronavirus restrictions, as makeup artist Kenan Thompson uses a three-foot extension to apply makeup, McKinnon touches the face of her long-lost daughter Chloe Fineman using her elbows, and a blonde Craig, holding a cockatoo, sensuously strokes McKinnon’s hair with a fake hand on an arm the length of their couch. The sketch took this to funny extremes, including McKinnon and Craig kissing through plexiglas, and preparing to have sex through a sheet of plastic wrap.

Thompson, Chris Redd, and musical guest The Weeknd gave us a music video lamenting that the women in their lives forced them to sleep on the couch for various, seemingly inconsequential reasons. It’s only when the women – Ego Nwodim, Melissa Villasenor, and Heidi Gardner – respond that we learn the men were hardly victims, with indiscretions including cheating, stealing all their money, and, in The Weeknd’s case, that he hasn’t dated the woman in question in five years, and she’s now married to another man (Craig).

Dratch’s return as Debbie Downer took place at a wedding, where the merriment was ruined by Debbie’s coronavirus fears. Arriving in a gas mask, she tells why she’s there in the first place – she’s “Mark’s cousin, once removed – for trespassing” – and gives the happy couple a wedding gift of a $25 donation to help cure feline AIDS. “It’s the number one killer of domestic cats,” she reminds us. Great to see this character back.

We also see a Knives Out casting session, where Craig, whose character in the film had a Southern accent, introduces his accent coach: Beck Bennett, dressed like a combination of Elvis and Evel Knievel for some reason, with accents that sound like Foghorn Leghorn, wildly exaggerated. Beck’s seriousness and Craig’s mimicry made this sketch a winner.

WEEKEND UPDATE: Colin Jost mentioned how, if Biden wins the Democratic nomination, a Trump/Biden debate would be the first to be moderated by a Jamaican nurse. Che said, “Democrats are like condoms – I’ll use them ‘cause it’s safer, but it doesn’t feel good.”

At the desk. Bowen Yang introduced a new character, “Bottle Boy,” a homeless-seeming bottle collector with a Cajun accent there to complain about the new plastic bag ban in New York. Yang has been a stand-out this year, both here and on Awkwafina’s Comedy Central series, but this was his first character that didn’t work for me. The performance was strong, but the accent was unexplained and baffling, and the character felt forced.

Strong brought back The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation with at a Party, as clueless, determined, and funny as ever. She laments the spread of the Qdobavirus – it’s “blown so out of abortion,” she said – and keeps trying to make a point by doing a “quick science experience” and putting her entire hand in Che’s mouth. When Che objects, she replied, “I’m Harvey Einstein all of a sudden?” As usual, she contemptuously gets everything wrong, noting there are “newborn babies who can’t even read or write,” that Hunter Biden was “working as a barista,” and, noting that the Brazilian rainforest is burning, comments, “Yeah. You keep waxing, it’s gonna burn.” It was great to see this character again, especially since SNL has had the good sense to use her sparingly.

THE 10 TO 1 SLOT: You want weird, you got weird, as Aidy Bryant heads up a Day-Glo music video as a housewife making her “Overnight Salad,” a disastrous concoction that somehow includes mayonnaise and hot dogs – way too many hot dogs. Excellently set designed and gorgeously shot, the punchline comes as she tries to feed this monstrosity to her family in the morning, and husband Craig loses his mind, yelling, “You need help, Nadine!” and “Your brain is sick!” as they see that the dog can’t move due to eating the salad.

SNL returns March 28 with host John Krasinski, and musical guest Dua Lipa.